Bungacast

On Empire of Conspiracy and agency panics.   [Patreon Exclusive - Tiers II & III]   We focus our discussion on the notion of 'agency panic' that is at the centre of Timothy Melley's account of conspiracy theories in postwar America. Does it apply to the Great Reset and Russiagate equally?   Melley's approach is a useful way of understanding what conspiracy theories give voice to – but is Melley defending or attacking the liberal humanist subject? We disagree amongst ourselves.   We then discuss how apathy and paranoia coexist, and wonder whether paranoia characterises the End of the End of History. And does Enlightenment scepticism reside somewhere between these two states?   Finally, we discuss jealous cuck husbands and Obama's idea of an epistemological crisis.   Additional reading: An extensive list of works on conspiracy theory can be found here

On the meaning of Gorbachev.   [Patreon Exclusive]   Mikhail Gorbachev continues to be lauded in Western circles for overseeing the collapse of the Soviet Union without much bloodshed. But given the historic societal disaster that followed, is this status unmerited? How naive was Gorbachev about the wolves at the door? And to what extent was the writing on the wall by the late '80s – was there an alternative path not taken?   Readings: Big Man Walking: Gorbachev’s Dispensation, Neal Ascherson, LRB, 2017 Voices of Glasnost review  Why Gorbachev Failed, Slavoj Zizek, Compact   Listenings: OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, pt. 4 (on Gen X, the End of History and Soviet collapse) /276/ Broken Promises ft. Fritz Bartel (on the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism) /270/ Russia vs the West ft. Richard Sakwa (on the geopolitics of NATO expansion)

On Brazil's containment of the crisis. We talk to members of the Unbridled Possibility Collective (Fabio Luis B. Santos | Thais Pavez | Daniel Cunha) about their intervention, trying to look beyond this week's election in Brazil. What does establishment support for Lula this time round represent? Is Lula guilty of "unrealistic pragmatism"? How will Brazil react to a potential coup attempt by Bolsonaro?  And we look at the deeper social and structural context: what are the features of the Brazilian "war of all against all"? How does Bolsonaro accelerate these tendencies? We conclude by looking at the possibility of a new 'Pink Wave' in Latin America and examining the state of the Brazilian left.  Readings: After the Election: a Contribution to the Debate, Unbridled Possibility Collective, Damage /189/ Pink Tide Paradoxes ft. Fabio Luis Brazil's Arrested Development, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin Policing Bolsonaro's Brazil, Alex Hochuli, Verso  

On the Brothers of Italy. We talk to Mattia Salvia, former Rolling Stone Italia politics editor and author of Interregno, about Italy's election last weekend in the context of a Europe in crisis. The big question to start: is Meloni a fascist - and will her government be fascist? With very low turnout, it seems like the working class has deserted politics, with 5 Star being the last gasp of proletarian participation. Does Meloni try to appeal to this constituency at all? Her low-tax anti-welfare policies don't seem like it. And what of Meloni's pro-NATO politics? And what does this mean for the EU - will a FdI-ruled Italy weaken the union, or strengthen it?  Readings: Meet the New Wolf, Giorgia Meloni, Mattia Salvia, Popula In Italy’s Deserted Democracy, Far-Right Giorgia Meloni Has Emerged Victorious, David Broder, Jacobin Meloni’s victory only strengthens the EU, Philip Cunliffe, Unherd What an Italy led by the far-right might mean for Europe, FT In Italian: Coatta Antica, Mattia Salvia, Not Nero http://www.iconografie.it/  

On La Macronie, or Macronistan Is France in perma-crisis? We talk to Nathan Sperber, independent researcher on political economy based in Paris and the author of a recent piece on Macronistan in American Affairs.   Does Macron evince a neo-statist turn, away from the entrepreneurial, neoliberal rhetoric of 2017? And what about the anti-establishment forces, left and right – how much of a chance do they have to shake La Macronie, or will they be co-opted? Readings: Muddling Through in Macronia: How Populism and the Establishment Intertwine, Nathan Sperber, American Affairs Emmanuel Macron announces the “end of abundance”, Katherine Bayford, Unherd Listenings: /256/ How to Boil a Frog (1) ft. Charles Devellennes /257/ How to Boil a Frog (2) ft. Chris Bickerton /64/ These Vests Don’t Yellow ft. Aurélie Dianara  

On your questions and criticisms. [Patreon Exclusive] We discuss the Chinese Dream, speculation and horizontal politics, foreign fighters and spies, Dune, and killing Phil.

[Patreon Exclusive]   On the death of Queen Elizabeth, a 20th century figure   To our own surprise, we are doing an episode on the Queen of England. How will her death impact the UK when she was basically the only institution that still retained popular trust? Will Britons be made to face up to the question of what kind of country they want?   We revisit the Nairn-Anderson theses about how and why Britain had so many seemingly feudal remnants, and ask whether there is still something to bourgeois modernisation. And we look globally at the response to the Queen's death and ask why so many people care?   Readings: The Revolutionary Monarchy of Elizabeth II, Adrian Wooldridge, Bloomberg The House of Windsor, Tom Nairn, NLR  'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death, Sam Knight, The Guardian

On Communism's historic role.   We talk to renowned Serbian-American economist Branko Milanovic about growing up in Yugoslavia and how, in much of the world, History never ended. We then dedicate much of the episode to discussing Branko's claim that communism was essentially an engine of economic convergence, allowing developing countries to haul themselves into the industrial age.   We also talk about Branko's work on inequality and why growth still matters.    Readings: Capitalism, Alone, Branko Milanovic, Harvard UP The Aloofness of Pax Sinica, Branko Milanovic, Global Policy Journal

On Brazil's elections and the military.   A month away from the first round showdown between former president Lula and current president Jair Bolsonaro, lawyer, podcaster and communist Alcysio Canette joins us to look at the features that have shaped the past years.   How did Bolsonaro's response to the Covid pandemic – denialism, essentially – tarnish his image? What role is the military playing in Brazilian politics and what is its history of political interference since the 1964-85 dictatorship?   Part two available at: patreon.com/posts/71560313   Readings: Will Bolsonaro Be Held Responsible for Brazil’s COVID-19 Disaster?, Alcysio Canette, Jacobin Cálice podcast, Atabaque Produções (in Portuguese) Pro-Bolsonaro Protests Were Supposed to Show His Strength. Instead, They Showed His Weakness, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin (on last year's 7 September protests) From Anti-Politics to Authoritarian Restoration in Brazil, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin

On Anthony Giddens' The Consequences of Modernity (ch.3) [Patreon Tier 2&3 Exclusive] In the second episode of the Cynical Ideology section of the 2022 Reading Club, we look at what trust is and why it has declined so precipitously in recent decades, especially in relation to institutions.  Is the opposite of trust mistrust, or is it existential angst? What's the link between the absence of trust and a sense of impending apocalypse? Is money or the market the only abstract entity we still trust? And what about the state? Reading: The Consequences of Modernity, Anthony Giddens (1990), ch. 3